If you have been hearing chirping or scurrying sounds coming from your fireplace, you most likely have a bird, squirrel, raccoon, or other wild animals in your chimney. Due to trees being cut down for construction and development purposes, a wild animal can have a hard time finding a place to nest. Since wild animals can easily mistake your chimney for a hollow tree, they may choose your home as a nesting site. However, the inside of a chimney is much more slippery than the inside of a tree, which can lead to a bird or animal becoming trapped in your chimney.
When a wild animal is trapped, it can die inside your chimney, and a dead animal not only produces an extremely unpleasant odor that can invade your home, but it also attracts bugs and parasites into your chimney. How can you keep a wild animal out of your chimney? Ace Chimney Sweeps strongly recommends having a chimney cap with mesh metal sides professionally installed on the top of your chimney to prevent birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other critters from entering. But, if you do find yourself in the situation of sharing your home with a wild animal, we would like to tell you more about dealing with birds and raccoons in your chimney.
Raccoons
Every spring and summer, female raccoons look for a safe place to build a den to raise their cubs, and chimneys often end up being the chosen location. While a family of raccoons will only stay in your chimney until the babies are able to get themselves out of the chimney to go with their mother on night time excursions, you may want to evict them as soon as possible. According to Wildlife Hotline, you can do a couple of things to get the family to leave earlier, including placing a blaring radio in the fireplace and a bowl of ammonia on a stool directly beneath the damper. You should remember to keep the damper closed as well as to set up your deterrents right before dusk as a mother raccoon will never move her cubs in daylight. This eviction may take a couple of days, but once they have all left your chimney, you can call Ace Chimney Sweeps to install a chimney cap on your chimney that will keep them from returning.
Birds
Unfortunately, most birds can easily become trapped inside your chimney. If you are hearing flapping sounds, the bird is most likely stuck. You can prevent the trapped bird from dying by opening the damper to allow the bird to escape. You will need to keep your fireplace doors closed to keep the bird from flying into your home. Once the bird has dropped down into the fireplace, slowly open the doors and toss a thin towel onto the bird. After the bird has calmed down, you can pick it up with the towel to take it outside to release it. You should be aware that certain birds like chimney swifts are protected by federal law in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which makes it illegal to remove them from their nesting spot. If you hear more chirping than flapping, contact us for more information.
The best way to keep wild animals out of your chimney is by having a chimney cap with mesh metal sides professionally installed on top of your chimney. If your chimney cap is damaged or missing, contact us at Ace Chimney Sweeps to find out how we can help you from having to deal with wild animals nesting inside your chimney.